Bishops back Zimbabwe cricket boycott

Development agency Caritas yesterday joined the nation's Catholic
bishops in a call to Cricket Australia to cancel this year's tour of
Zimbabwe.

The Sydney Morning Herald
reports that the 42 bishops, meeting in Sydney this week, claimed a
boycott would be a significant symbolic gesture against an oppressive
regime.

"That innocent families and communities, already
afflicted by poverty and hardship, have been tormented under mass
evictions and political persecutions can no longer be tolerated by the
world community," the bishops say in a statement.

"In light of
this, we support recent calls for the Australian cricket team to
withdraw from its upcoming tour of Zimbabwe and believe that this would
be a significant symbolic stance against the oppressive regime in that
country."

Bishops conference President Archbishop Philip Wilson
expressed support for outspoken human rights advocate Archbishop Pius
Ncube's visit and spoke of the solidarity between the Bishops'
Conferences of Australia and Zimbabwe.

"We know the many challenges facing the people of Zimbabwe," Archbishop Wilson said.

"Australians
are becoming aware, through the courageous stance of community and
Church leaders like Archbishop Ncube, of the oppressive social and
economic conditions and the violations of human rights in Zimbabwe.

Earlier, Bulawayo Archbishop Ncube told the Herald that Prime Minister John Howard should intervene to prevent the Australian tour.

Foreign
Affairs Minister Alexander Downer is also meeting Cricket Australia to
try to convince it to pull the team out of the tour.

Backing the
call by Australia's bishops, Caritas Australia chief Jack de Groot said
Zimbabwe was a nation teetering on the precipice of oblivion when it
had once been an African success story.

"The Mugabe regime in
Zimbabwe is vicious and corrupt and Australia must not add any
credibility to his brutal dictatorship," he said.

"The 2004
cricket tour by Australia was used as a calculated propaganda tool by
the state controlled media to promote, to his own suffering people, how
the international community was not against him.

"Australia and
the international cricket community cannot continue to condone the
brutality of Mugabe and his thugs," Mr de Groot said.